Eden Center is a

Vietnamese American Vietnamese Americans ( vi, Người Mỹ gốc Việt, lit=Viet-origin American people) are Americans of Vietnamese ancestry. They make up about half of all overseas Vietnamese and are the fourth-largest Asian American ethnic group after Chinese ...

strip mall A strip mall, strip center or strip plaza is a type of shopping center common in North America where the stores are arranged in a row, with a sidewalk in front. Strip malls are typically developed as a unit and have large parking lots in front. ...

located near the crossroads of Seven Corners in the City of

Falls Church, Virginia Falls Church is an independent city (United States), independent city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the population was 14,658. Falls Church is included in the Wash ...

. Eden Center is the largest Vietnamese commercial center on the East Coast, and the largest Asian-themed mall on the east coast of North America. The city's Economic Development commission considers it the city's top tourist destination. The center is home to more than 120 shops, restaurants and businesses catering extensively to the

Asian American Asian Americans are Americans of Asian ancestry (including naturalized Americans who are immigrants from specific regions in Asia and descendants of such immigrants). Although this term had historically been used for all the indigenous people ...

, especially the

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

ese-American, population. Eden Center has created an anchor for Vietnamese culture serving the Virginia, North Carolina, Maryland, and Pennsylvania areas, as shown by the large number of

phở Phở or pho (, , ; ) is a Vietnamese soup dish consisting of broth, rice noodles (), herbs, and meat (usually beef (), sometimes chicken ()). Phở is a popular food in Vietnam where it is served in households, street stalls and restaurants co ...

soup restaurants,

bánh mì In Vietnamese cuisine, or banh mi (, ; , "bread") is a short baguette with thin, crisp crust and soft, airy texture. It is often split lengthwise and filled with savory ingredients like a submarine sandwich and served as a meal, called ''bánh ...

delicatessens, bakeries, markets, as well as Vietnamese-American cultural events that are regularly held at the center.

History

The center opened in 1962 as the Plaza Seven Shopping Center, with a

Grand Union A grand union is a rail track junction where two double-track railway or tramway lines cross at grade, often in a street intersection or crossroads. A total of sixteen railroad switches (sets of points) allow streetcars (or in rarer installati ...

supermarket and a

Zayre Zayre () was a chain of discount stores that operated in the eastern half of the United States from 1956 to 1990. The company's headquarters was in Framingham, Massachusetts. In October 1988, Zayre's parent company, Zayre Corp., sold the stores ...

discount store serving as anchors. After the Grand Union store closed in 1984, Vietnamese merchants displaced from the "

Little Saigon Little Saigon ( vi, Sài Gòn nhỏ or Tiểu Sài Gòn) is a name given to ethnic enclaves of expatriate Vietnamese mainly in English-speaking countries. Alternate names include Little Vietnam and Little Hanoi (mainly in historically communist ...

" area in the Clarendon neighborhood of nearby

Arlington, Virginia Arlington County is a county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The county is situated in Northern Virginia on the southwestern bank of the Potomac River directly across from the District of Columbia, of which it was once a part. The county is ...

, due to

Washington Metro The Washington Metro (or simply Metro), formally the Metrorail,Google Books search/preview

subway construction and redevelopment moved into the space, as the Vietnamese-American community in Northern Virginia (and the

Washington, DC ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan ...

, metropolitan area) grew following the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

. The name derives from the 1960s Saigon arcade Khu Eden; the cluster of stores took on the Eden name, and it ultimately evolved into the name for the entire center. The landlord, Capital Commercial Properties, later added a clock tower and an arch flanked by lions, inspired by the

Bến Thành Market Bến Thành Market ( vi, Chợ Bến Thành) is located in the center of Hồ Chí Minh City, Vietnam in District 1. The market is one of the earliest surviving structures in Saigon and an important symbol of the city. Ben Thanh Market is a fam ...

in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

Layout

Most businesses are located on ground level and offer direct access to the sidewalk and parking lot, as would a conventional strip mall. About 65 more stores and restaurants are inside three enclosed malls. In the rear of the mall are additional businesses, currently including a nightclub. The main parking lot has about 900 spaces, with about 300 more behind the stores. The mall flies a South Vietnamese Flag, as do many Vietnamese-owned businesses in the Washington, D.C., area.

Stores

Eden Center is host to a variety of business types, a few of which incorporate "Eden" in their names. Most are food-related: restaurants, supermarkets, and specialty delicatessens catering prepared foods. Restaurants range from carry-out-only places that serve

stir-fry Stir frying () is a cooking technique in which ingredients are fried in a small amount of very hot oil while being stirred or tossed in a wok. The technique originated in China and in recent centuries has spread into other parts of Asia and th ...

dishes and

spring roll Spring rolls are rolled appetizers or dim sum commonly found in Chinese and other Southeast Asian cuisines. The kind of wrapper, fillings, and cooking technique used, as well as the name, vary considerably within this large area, depending o ...

s to high-volume

soup restaurants to sit-down restaurants with large varied menus and a formal decor. Other businesses include jewelry stores, herbal medicine shops, clothing and toy stores, and travel agents. A 44,000-square foot Good Fortune supermarket opened in November 2014. Eden Center was featured on the January 19, 2009, episode of '' Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations'' that focused on the Washington, D.C., area. Bourdain visited the Song Que deli, and had a very favorable review of that business and of the Eden Center. Many other reviews of Eden Center restaurants have been published in ''The Washington Post'', ''Washingtonian'' Magazine, and the ''Falls Church News Press''.

Events

Eden Center hosts an annual

Tết Tết (), short for Tết Nguyên Đán (Chữ Hán: 節元旦), Spring Festival, Lunar New Year, or Vietnamese Lunar New Year is one of the most important celebrations in Vietnamese culture. The colloquial term "Tết" is a shortened form of , ...

, or Vietnamese New Year festival, and an annual

Moon Festival The Mid-Autumn Festival (Chinese: / ), also known as the Moon Festival or Mooncake Festival, is a traditional festival celebrated in Chinese culture. Similar holidays are celebrated in Japan (), Korea (), Vietnam (), and other countries in Ea ...

, both widely attended with a vibrant display of special food, performers, fireworks, and

lion dancing F Lion dance () is a form of traditional dance in Chinese culture and other Asian countries in which performers mimic a lion's movements in a lion costume to bring good luck and fortune. The lion dance is usually performed during the Chinese New Y ...

. Each September, the Eden Center plays host to the annual "Miss Vietnam DC" scholarship pageant, the preeminent contest of its kind in the Washington, D.C., area.

Crimes

In 1997, after a fatal shooting, the Falls Church Police Department opened a substation at Eden Center. The property landlord also began operating 48 closed-circuit monitoring cameras. On August 11, 2011, federal agents, Virginia State Police, and local police jointly raided several businesses in Eden Center, seizing more than $1 million in cash from one business and small amounts from other businesses. Also seized were several gambling machines; and 19 people were arrested on suspicion of gambling and alcohol crimes. Police blamed the Dragon Family gang, a Vietnamese-American criminal gang that operates in Asian-American hubs across North America. No felony charges were ever filed, and ultimately, though some defendants pleaded guilty, many had their cases dismissed before trial. At least one defendant went to trial and was found not guilty of the charges. The raid ignited tensions between the Eden Center businesses and the City of Falls Church government. After a second raid five months later arrested suspects on a variety of gambling and money laundering charges, many in the community alleged racism and poor investigation by the police.

History

Layout

Stores

Events

Crimes

References

See also